Winnebago’s New Electric Healthcare Vehicles

With a goal of eliminating exposure to vehicle exhaust emissions for patients seeking healthcare from community outreach vehicles, Winnebago Specialty Vehicles is announcing a pair of new all-electric vehicles. 

Winnebago will first showcase a new all-electric, eBloodmobile chassis at the Mobile Health Clinics Forum, September 14 to 17, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. The company said the eBloodmobiles are designed to eliminate the need for day long vehicle idling and the operation of two on-board generators will allow healthcare systems to collect blood donations in a clean and quiet environment.  

Based on the average cost of fuel in the US, the eBloodmobile is expected to save $150,000 to $200,000 in combined fuel and maintenance savings. Winnebago anticipates the ROI of electric community outreach vehicles to be as little as three years. 

Winnebago partnered with Motiv Power Systems, Inc., for the development and supply of the Ford eQVM approved EPIC all-electric powered chassis for this application. Once fully equipped for deployment, the eBloodmobile will feature four patient beds, two interview rooms, a small waiting area, and small recovery area. The eBloodmobile is designed to hold enough battery charge for eight hours of service plus round-trip travel to and from its home facility. The vehicle has completed road testing and delivers an expected range of 85 to 125 miles on a full charge.

Winnebago also announced the development of an all-electric Mobile Lung Unit (eMLU). Powered by a Ford F-53 based EPIC 6 all-electric chassis from Motiv Power Systems.

To help increase awareness and availability of screening for those considered high risk, the eMLU can travel city-to-city to provide access to lung diagnostic services.  Winnebago is displaying that vehicle in San Francisco, at both CALSTART’s Global Commercial Vehicle Drive to Zero Workshop on September 11th and the Global Climate Action Summit September 12-14, 2018. 

This specialty healthcare vehicle features the Samsung NeuroLogica BodyTom Elite, a portable, full-body, 32-slice CT scanner.

“We are proud to help increase access to life-saving lung cancer screenings in the clean, quiet and emissions free environment of the first all-electric Mobile Lung Unit,” said Ashis Bhattacharya, Vice President, Strategic Planning and Development, and leader of Winnebago’s Specialty Vehicles Division. “As states provide incentives and broaden anti-idling laws, we expect the medical community to adopt the customizable all-electric community outreach vehicle for a variety of functions, such as lung cancer screening, asthma management and support, blood donation, dentistry or primary care.”

“Health systems are continuously looking for more efficient ways to deliver high-quality care to patients in the community, especially those patients beyond their immediate sphere of care,” said David Webster, chief operating officer of NeuroLogica. “One way to do this is through the use of mobile medical units. With its self-sufficient battery power, the BodyTom Elite-equipped electric Winnebago is ideally suited for these mobile care environments, while doing so the “green” way. We look forward to patients receiving emissions-free lung cancer screenings with the electric mobile lung unit.”

Motiv Power Systems all-electric/zero-emissions EPIC chassis is designed to hold enough charge for eight hours of service plus round-trip travel to and from its home facility. Winnebago said the vehicle charges to half its full capacity in two hours and 75 percent of capacity in four hours.

Winnebago partnered with Motiv Power Systems, Inc. on the development and supply of the EPIC all-electric powered chassis after a joint strategic partnership announcement earlier this year.

 NPP WebLink:  winnebagoind.com, motivps.com